Evaluation Design for the Morocco Workforce Development Activity

In 2015 the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco entered into the Employability and Land Compact to address constraints to productivity in the education, workforce development, and agricultural sectors. The Compact, implemented between 2017 and 2023, includes the Workforce Development Activity, intended to increase the employability of Moroccans through three sub-activities. The Private Sector-Driven TVET sub-activity, also known as the Charaka Fund, aims to improve the quality of and access to TVET that is well is well aligned to private-sector needs. The Results-Based Financing (RBF) for Inclusive Employment sub-activity links unemployed youth and women to the labor market through job placement services. The National Labor Market Observatory (ONMT) sub-activity aims to provide high quality information about the labor market through an online data platform.

MCC has contracted with Mathematica to conduct an independent evaluation of the Morocco Workforce Development Activity (WDA). The evaluation design uses a mixed-methods approach comprised of three studies: (1) a quantitative outcomes study of the Charaka Fund; (2) a quantitative descriptive study of the RBF sub-activity; and (3) a qualitative study assessing the Charaka Fund, RBF, and ONMT sub-activities. To evaluate the possible effects of the Charaka Fund, the outcomes study will use survey data to measure the training and labor market outcomes of trainees in Charaka-supported TVET centers and, to the extent possible, compare their outcomes with those of a relevant sample of trainees who graduated from centers that are not supported by the Charaka Fund. For the RBF sub-activity, the quantitative descriptive study will use survey data to measure the labor market outcomes of participants in the RBF job placement program in the two-year period following the program. The qualitative study will explore the extent to which the envisaged outcomes of each sub-activity were achieved, the mechanisms underlying these achievements or reasons why they were not achieved, and prospects for continuation and scaling after the end of the Compact through key informant interviews, focus group discussion, and review of program documents.

The evaluation will be carried out between 2022 and 2027, with a report on the RBF sub-activity and ONMT data platform anticipated in late 2024 and a report on the Charaka Fund sub-activity anticipated in late 2027.